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In the just-released film "Unbroken," as in real life, U.S. Army Air Corps Lt. Louis Zamperini was beaten, starved and forced to work as a slave laborer by his Japanese captors. Things could have been worse. Like some other war prisoners held by the Japanese, Zamperini could have been used in biological warfare experiments. Or vivisected. Or beheaded, with parts of his body then eaten by his captors. As the historian Daqing Yang notes, nine out of 10 U.S. POWs who died in captivity in World War II did so at the hands of the Japanese. In Japan, where "Unbroken" does not yet and may never have a release date, right-wing nationalists have protested the film as racist and...

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In the just-released film "Unbroken," as in real life, U.S. Army Air Corps Lt. Louis Zamperini was beaten, starved and forced to work as a slave laborer by his Japanese captors.
Things could have been worse. Like some other war prisoners held...

Japanese factories churned out more machinery and electronic devices in January as export shipments rose, but lower energy costs due to cheaper crude oil failed to provide a boost to consumer spending. Weak retail sales and a cooling of already slow...

Diplomatically speaking, they may be the most important words Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe utters this year. So much so that he convened a panel of experts this week to advise him on what to say to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War...

TOKYO Once a source of fortune for Japanese fishermen hunting sea lions and abalone, a pair of remote rocks is stopping the U.S.' two biggest allies in Asia from getting along. The Sea of Japan rocks have been controlled by South Korea since 1954....

TOKYO Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has fought to alter Japan's constitution on matters of security, is less eager to oppose its principles when it comes to same-sex marriage. Changing the charter to allow gay marriage would require "extremely...

After stumbling out of recession last quarter, Japan's economy looks set to do something familiar this year: slumber. Helped by higher exports, the country's GDP grew an annualized 2.2 percent in the last quarter of 2014, the government said Monday. But...

Japan's outrage over the slaying of two Japanese hostages by the Islamic State group is settling into a heightened awareness of risks associated with the country's pursuit of lucrative energy projects and other economic ties in the Middle East. Tokyo's...

College-educated and gainfully employed 36-year-old Eriko Sekiguchi should be a sought-after friend or date, planning nights on the town and faraway resort vacations. But she works in Japan, a nation where workaholic habits die hard. Often toiling 14...

In Japan, where conformity takes precedence over individuality, one of the most important values is to avoid "meiwaku" — causing trouble for others. And sympathy aside, the two Japanese purportedly slain by the Islamic State group are now widely...

BEIJING When news broke Sunday that militants from the Islamic State group had beheaded journalist Kenji Goto after killing another Japanese citizen, much of the world condemned the executions and offered Japan condolences. Not China. In Beijing,...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defended his policy toward terrorism, as the flag at his official residence flew at half-staff Monday in a mark of mourning for two hostages killed by the Islamic State group. During a long day of parliamentary debate,...

The killing of two Japanese taken hostage by the Islamic State group has violently driven home the high stakes Japan faces and limited options it can muster in such circumstances. It also offers a glimpse into how Japan is struggling to handle the...

The killing of two Japanese taken hostage by the Islamic State group has violently driven home the high stakes Japan faces and limited options it can muster in such circumstances.
It also offers a glimpse into how Japan is struggling to handle the rising...

Jordan remains "as committed as ever" to a U.S.-led military coalition against the Islamic State group, the kingdom's foreign minister said Sunday, amid heightened fears for the life of a Jordanian fighter pilot held by the militants. Foreign...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defended his policy toward terrorism, as the flag at his official residence flew at half-staff Monday in a mark of mourning for two hostages killed by the Islamic State group.
During a long day of parliamentary...

TOKYO The wife of journalist Kenji Goto said she was proud of her husband's passion for conveying the "tragedies of war" after his beheading by Islamic State. "My family and I are devastated by the news of Kenji's death," Rinko...

Japan and other nations condemned with outrage and horror on Sunday the beheading purportedly by the Islamic State group of Kenji Goto, a journalist who sought through his coverage of Syria to convey the plight of refugees, children and other victims of...

A Japanese envoy in Jordan expressed hope that both a Japanese hostage and a Jordanian pilot held by Islamic militants will return home "with a smile on their faces," as criticisms mounted Tuesday over the government's handling of the crisis.
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The news of a video purportedly showing the killing of Kenji Goto, a journalist held hostage by Islamic State militants, rushed through Japan early Sunday. Here are some voices and thoughts of ordinary people, Goto's family and officials in a nation...

The Japanese, who inhabit one of the safest countries in the world, have been reminded in brutal fashion that the world is a dangerous place. In a shock to a country that can feel insulated from distant geopolitical problems, two of their own have...